Parallel Lines
by AriaJack
Summary: Filbrick Pines has two conversations that define him as a father, a son, and a man. Or maybe it was just one conversation, and he switched sides halfway through.


Author's Note: This was written in part (or in full) as something of a response to the way people seem to view Filbrick. Because in a series where you have a literal genocidal demon, and a man who kicked out his son at 17 as antagonists, one of these should be viewed with a certain amount of sympathy and one of them should not. And I swear the entire internet has picked the WRONG ONE.

* * *

Parallel: adj.

1\. side by side and having the same distance continuously between them.

2\. occurring or existing at the same time or in a similar way; corresponding

* * *

 _"_ _Leaving already?" Asks the old man._

 _"_ _Can't stay any longer. Gotta report to the draft board at 7:00 AM tomorrow and the first train doesn't leave early enough. Ma gave me some money for a hotel," says the young man_

 _"_ _Train won't leave for another 2 hours."_

 _"_ _It's fine. I can wait at the station."_

 _"_ _How about you sit down here for a minute. I got some things I need to tell ya."_

 _"_ _If this is about..."_

 _"_ _Siddown, Filbrick. Now listen sharp, not gonna repeat myself and this is probably the last time we're gonna talk, cause at the end of this you're gonna walk out that door and you're gonna start your own damn life. And you don't strike me as the type that'll want to come back once you do. And take that unimpressed look off your face. You can show some damn respect for once in your life."_

 _"_ _Yessir."_

 _"_ _Good enough. You're eighteen now, and I know you think you're tough as nails cause you grew up fast and hard and you're the meanest kid in Glass Beach, but that ain't gonna mean diddleysquat when you leave here."_

* * *

"Leaving already?" Asks the old man.

"Can't stay any longer. My plane is going to be leaving pretty soon and I have some experiments still running back in Oregon," says the young man.

"Humor your old man and sit down for a minute, there's some things I need to talk to you about."

"I don't really want to talk about Stanley."

"Sit down, Stanford. I don't imagine I'll be seeing much of you after this. You're busy with your work and your Ma and I are gonna be busy helping Shermie with Isaac."

"It's hard to believe I'm an uncle already."

"I'm not impressed. I had three sons, and I swear your the only one who showed a lick of sense. What kind of knucklehead has a kid at fifteen?"

"Are you… drunk?"

"Quiet, Stanford. There're some things I gotta say. And you're the only one left with any right to hear them."

"Alright, I'm listening."

"The problem with kids is that they don't listen when you're talking to them. Shermie didn't listen when I told him to be careful with that Marilyn girl, you didn't listen when I told you to get yer nose out yer books and pay attention to yer boxing lessons and Stanley stopped hearing a word I said the day he turned thirteen."

"Dad..."

"But I can't blame him for that 'cause I did the same thing to my own father."

* * *

 _"_ _Now another thing is that I know you've been getting a lot of your ideas about what a man is supposed to be from those knuckleheads down at the factory, an' that's my fault. I never told ya different. But I'm telling ya now. The most important thing to a man is his family. You have a wife, you protect and support her. You have kids and you feed, clothe, and raise 'em. A man who is not willing to sacrifice for his family is not a man who should be part of a family. You understand?"_

 _"_ _Yessir."_

 _"_ _Good, I didn't raise you to be a man who lies, and cheats, and rides on other people's coattails in order to get what he wants. Real men take care of their family first."_

* * *

"Your brother was a leech. Never made anything of his own, but was always willing to to take what someone else had made. And if he couldn't get what he wanted from ya then he'd throw a temper tantrum and wreck your life over it"

"Dad."

"If he wasn't lying about where he was all night, he was bragging about sneakin' into the bar, and cheatin' everyone at poker. And you can't tell me he didn't pass most of high school by copying all your homework.

"Well, yes, but..."

"I don't much care for it when my own son lies to my face, but I like it less when that son becomes a man who does the same thing and tries to ruin his brother in the bargain.

"Dad! You... you can't really… I… He's dead. Can't you even forgive a dead man?"

"Stanford, you're not listening. I'm saying this because Stanley and I are… were... a lot alike."

"How does that even make sense? If you were so alike, how come you… how come everything happened the way it did? It's not like you ever lied, or cheated, or..."

"..."

"..."

"Yeah, took you long enough. I always blamed the lying on your ma and maybe that was right, but everything else, that was me. The example I set for you boys was how to be selfish. How to cheat people outta what they earned, and when my son grew up to be the man I raised him to be; I kept right on being selfish. Somehow, you turned out alright, Stanford. Maybe 'cause your books raised you more than your ma and I did, but Stanley… Stanley was a chip off the old block if ever there was one."

* * *

 _"_ _You got a temper on you, Filbrick. Lot of young men do these days. Seem to think the world cheated you outta of something you were owed and now you're all real tough men, full o' piss and vinegar, ready to spit in its eye when things don't go your way. You weren't born with much in the way of brains, God knows, but what'll really hurt you someday is when your temper meets that hard heart your growin'. Dammit boy, look at me when I'm talking to ya."_

 _"_ _I don't have time for this. I gotta go."_

 _"_ _You'll leave when I say you can leave. And you'll listen when I tell you to listen."_

 _"_ _I'm gonna go fight a war, Pops. Don't need to hear about how to be nice."_

 _"_ _War's not gonna last forever, boy, and being cruel might help you win it, but it won't do you any good afterward."_

 _"_ _How would you know? It's not like you ever had to fight a war!"_

 _"_ _No, but I watched my older brother come back from one. These last few years, it's been like watching him grow up all over again, and I don't… I don't want ya to end up like him. So you mind what I'm telling ya."_

* * *

"Shermie was smart to tell your ma about Marilyn being pregnant first and letting her tell me. Don't know what I would've done if he'd told me straight out."

"..."

"Well, maybe I do."

"I was surprised. When I heard you were gonna help them out. I thought maybe you'd… wouldn't."

"Your mother was the same. Shouldn't be such a surprise that I can learn from my… from what happened with your brother."

"Maybe you should go easy on those drinks."

"Nah, still got some stuff I gotta say to ya. And then I got to go talk to your brother. Say something I've never said to a man before and likely won't again."

"Then maybe I should have one, too."

"The thing about Shermie, when I found out, I mean, was that I was angry, sure, and it seemed like Stanley all over again and I was gearin' up for another… temper tantrum. But your ma told me, she told me that she 'wasn't gonna lose another son to you having a selfish heart of stone, Filbrick Pines,' and well, I wasn't too impressed. But when I had cooled off a bit, I got to thinking about some stuff my pops had said to me just 'fore I left home. Well, once I had calmed down a little I realized… Well, that's something I need to speak to yer brother about."

* * *

 _"_ _Someday, you might have kids, son. And what you'll figure out is that love isn't what you think it is. It's not all soft hearts and heads. Love is a gut punch, because whether you mean to or not, whether you're close to your kids or not, you are still gonna love 'em and no matter what you do, they're gonna break your damn heart. Cause children don't love their parents like parents love their children. For parents, lovin' your kids is about giving. Giving 'em food, and clothes, and whatnot, but also about giving 'em good memories and good opportunities, and good values to build their lives on. For kids, love is all about takin'. Kids love you because they rely on you, and when they stop relying on you so much they start to resent you for whatever it is that they're still stuck relying' on you for."_

 _"_ _I don't resent you. I just gotta start my own life. Everyone has to live their own lives."_

 _"_ _Yeah, you do. But just you remember that your kids are gonna think that everything that's yours is also theirs. Kids don't know any better. And the one lesson you don't ever want to teach your kids is that they can't rely on you for what they need. They get that thought into their heads and they'll never get it out. And that's when you'll lose 'em."_

 _"_ _I can't come back here, Pops. I have to know that I can do it on my own, that I can live my own life. Without all the rules and having to do what everyone else wants me to do all the time. I gotta live my own life."_

 _"_ _I know."_

* * *

"You know Stanford, someday, you might look up from all your science projects and decide to have a family. Find a woman who doesn't care how many fingers you have and settle down with some kids. Hell, twins run in the family, maybe you'll have some of your own. And if you do… Well, if you do. I hope you remember that being a parent is about what you can give to your kids. Not about what your kids can give to you. D'ya hear? It's about what you're… what you're... giving to your kids. And if you just… remember that one thing. If you just remember that one thing. You won't lose 'em like… You won't lose 'em. Just make sure you remember that... for me. I swear it's worthwhile."

"Yeah, I'll remember that, Dad. I swear I will."

"Good. Now, I gotta talk to your brother. Stay safe back in Oregon."

"I will, Dad."

"And don't forget to call your ma."

"I won't. Dad? I… I… It's nothing. I'll try to come visit, sometime.

"It's alright, Stanford. You gotta live your own life."

* * *

 _"_ _Well, I suppose you have to get going pretty soon here."_

 _"_ _Yeah, have to get my ticket."_

 _"_ _Just... just two last things, Filbrick._ _First of all, you're gonna be wrong sometimes. You'll make mistakes, and if you're lucky you'll get to fix them and if you aren't you'll have to live with them for_ _the rest of your_ _life. And I hope you don't make too many of those last ones. Those are the ones that turn a man old. But whatever mistakes you make, whatever you do wrong… you gotta learn to say you're sorry, Filbrick. You've always been pig-headed stubborn about it before, and I know you're more willing to take a lick or twelve than apologize for anything you do. But, for the love of all, when it's most important, say the damn words."_

 _"_ _I'm not gonna go and do something stupid..."  
_

 _"_ _Filbrick!"_

 _"_ _Yessir."_

* * *

"Stanley. I'm sorry."

* * *

 _"_ _I'm proud of you, son. Whatever happens from here on out. Whatever happens over there. Whatever life you end up living for yourself, and whether you remember anything of what I just said. I'm proud of you. Just you remember that. Just you remember that."_

* * *

 _"_ I'm sorry."

* * *

Author's Note: Assuming that Shermie was the baby in "A Tale of Two Stans" then he and his son had children pretty young. I'm stretching believability by saying that Shermie was 3 when Stan was kicked out and that Stan spent about a year as a beach bum before starting his world travels, but until and unless Alex Hirsch comes up with an explanation for the family timeline, this is the best I can do.

Thank you for reading.


End file.
